Travis Stoll, You Are So Not Funny
by EmilyHelene
Summary: Travis is the trouble-finding sweetie and Katie's the precocious green thumb. Nothing, not even Travis Stoll and his practical jokes will keep her from planting the perfect kindergarten bean plant. Little fluff, attitude and insanely cute kids! R&R! :
1. Kindergarten

Travis Stoll, You Are So Not Funny

a Percy Jackson and the Olympians story

By Emily Helene

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**Chapter One: Kindergarten**

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Katie had been looking forward to that Thursday afternoon for what seemed like a million years. Travis, however, had not.

"Okay, class." Mrs. Clarice clapped her hands together. Katie's thick blond braid swung as she turned her head to get a better view of the teacher. Mrs. Clarice was a thin middle aged woman with wavy salt and pepper hair. Usually, it was tied back in a pony tail, but not today. That day she wore a pair of blue gardening clogs on her feet that clashed with her pink t-shirt and khaki pencil leg pants. Eleanor, the only fashion obsessed five year old she knew had noticed big time and whispered it to her for a seventh time during circle.

"Mrs. C's blue shoes do _not _match that pink top. She should have worn that white shirt with the blue dragonfly instead." She whispered, eying their teacher with the intensity of a fashion designer critiquing a model from a rival design label. She suddenly turned towards Macy. Katie rolled her eyes and sighed. What did it matter what their teacher was wearing? They were going to be planting anyway.

"Can you make money for telling people what clothes to wear?" She asked, her voice squeaking at the end like most of the girls in the class. She turned to Macy, wondering what she thought. The other girl sighed, clearly bored. She always acted like she was repeating herself.

"Yes." She rolled her eyes. "It's called a fashion designer, I think."

"A fashion de-zin-er?" Eleanor repeated, sounding out each syllable. Macy nodded and Katie shushed them both.

"Be quiet or else Mrs. Clarice will see us talking and we won't get to plant." She said it a bit louder than necessary which wasn't really a bad thing. Maybe the other two girls would stop talking if the teacher told them to. The teacher looked over at her and shushed Macy and Eleanor before addressing the entire class.

"Class, Katie is more than correct." She picked up a Terracotta pot that had previously taken up residence on the chalk shelf. She patted the stray remnants of the chalky dust away from its bottom and set it in the palm of her hand, showing it off to the whole class. Katie's eyes gleamed.

She loved everything about the garden. It was rich in colour; the yellow of the tulip petals reminded her of the sun on a warm summer day. The plants were alive with textures and scents. It was breathtaking.

A murmur rose above the air, originating from the back of the group. No one had to ask who it was. They already knew. One of the Stoll brothers.

"Aw, Mrs. C." Travis complained, sounding like a spoiled child. "Do we have to?" The teacher nodded and Travis snickered.

"What's funny, doofus?" Macy asked.

"You are, smarty pants." With that he stuck out his tongue and made the ever-annoying playground call. "Nah, nah na nah naaahh!" He leapt up and raced around the room like the Red Baron, shooting his classmates with a false machine gun. Mrs. Clarice's forehead creased, closed her eyes and sighed. She looked like she wanted to swallow and entire container of Aspirin.

Katie rolled her eyes and fixed her attention on a piece of grass that had stuck to the bottom of her shoe, attempting to do that strange thing she had done on the weekend where she had breathed new life into a wilting plant. Just as it had before, the piece of grass turned from a dead-ish brown to a magnificent emerald green. She held it up to her eye; a perfect match.

She didn't even notice the Red Baron coming in for landing a few feet away. She was too busy admiring the pretty blade of grass on her sweaty palm to notice Travis gunning it full speed ahead with no intention of avoiding the little girl in his way.

She looked up just in time to be met with Travis' eyes glued to hers, the mischievous demeanor present and accounted for.

"Sorry." He whispered, tugging on her neatly braided hair, nearly knocking the blue plastic flower hair tie that secured her braid, out of place. She swatted his hand away and pushed him off of her.

"Get off, Travis!" She hollered, her face red with fury. To Travis, she looked downright terrifying. By far the scariest he'd ever seen a girl before. He recoiled slightly as she gave him a meaningful shove.

"Now, Katie." Mrs. Clarice smiled through clenched teeth, trying not to let her emotions override her before she dealt with the troublesome Travis Stoll. She took the hand of the younger girl and led her out into the hallway, motioning for Travis to follow behind.

Knowing he was most likely headed for the principal's office, he made a big show of making it to the door, emphasizing that he was going to _the office_ that much more.

Katie, who was still unhappy about being led out of the room by her wrist stood by the teacher's side in the hallway, arms crossed indignantly. No way was she, Katie Gardner getting in trouble because of that stupid dummy, Travis Stoll.

When Travis finally joined them in the hall, Katie was staring bloody murder at him. He shrugged his shoulder like he was given death glares by his peers everyday. Truth be told, he was.

"Travis," the teacher sighed, tired of dealing with the extremely unruly child. "What you did was inexcusable. You are sent to Principal Burns' office. He will be waiting for you." Katie smirked before Mrs. C turned her way. "and Katie will walk you down." One smile vanished, a suspicious one forming on Travis' lips. This would be good.

"But first," she added. "Travis please apologize to Katie for jumping on her." Travis, who found the whole experience as the Red Baron somewhat thrilling and somewhat fun, erupted into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"I'm *giggle* really *giggle* sorry." Katie crossed her arms over her chest again, waiting for a real apology. But seeing as this was the best they were going to get, Mrs. Clarice sent them on their way.

"I am so funny." Travis smiled after the two were well out of an authority figure's earshot. Katie looked at him and smiled a bit, but it quickly faded like the sun in a rainstorm.

"No, you're not." She declared. "You're a dummy."

She smiled because she knew Travis would pay for making her miss bean planting. Oh boy, would he pay. Suddenly, the walk to the principal's office seemed incredibly short.

And that was just the way it was with them. Love and hate. But mostly hate. And things were just beginning to get interesting.

**A/N: Emily, here! This is the very short first chapter of a new story I'm working on. It's centered around Katie and Travis (obviously) and I'm sorry that this first chapter is so short. I hope to post more soon but you know how it is with homework. Be sure to check back often because this story won't take me long to finish. Please R&R with any constructive crit and opinions about the story. I have never written a Katie/Travis story before so I want to know how I did! Thanks for your support!**

******I want to send a great big thanks out to **storm-brain ******for being an awesome beta reader! Thanks so much, I really appreciate it!**  


**Happy Writing,  
**

**xoxo Emily  
**


	2. Dead Meat

**Chapter Two: Dead Meat**

Katie sat uncomfortably in the squishy chair outside the office. Why she was sitting down, she didn't know. She should have been on her way back to class by now. It was Travis who was in trouble, not her. But still, for some reason, she stayed. That didn't help the feeling of uncertainty in her gut. It was unfamiliar and strange. To her left, Travis sat with a confident smile on his face. Clearly, he wasn't suffering from the same thing she was. Given the number of times he was sent down to the place, he must have built up an immunity to it. She might as well have just stayed.

She stared at him, his happy demeanor puzzling her. "What are you so happy about?" She hissed, as not to be heard by the principal, Mr. Walter Burns in the next room over.

His legs swung back and forth under the chair, a devious smile dancing across his face. "Nothin' of interest." He replied coolly. She rolled her eyes, not understanding Missy's insane obsession with this stupid boy. He was a boy and all boys were dumb. She even told him so.

"Boys are dumb." She said, pulling at a stray thread on her green denim jumper, the one with the big, yellow daisy on the breast pocket. Travis turned to stare at her as if she had just said that chocolate was a nasty invention and was being obliterated so that it's creamy goodness could no longer be enjoyed by the human race.

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

They were too immersed in their conversation with each other that they didn't even notice Mr. Burns with his beady brown eyes and silver goatee shuffle out into the hallway with his cane.

"Travis Stoll." Travis smiled like he was being rewarded for picking up trash on the playground. Katie glared at him, whilst trying to duck out of the way, her attempts unsuccessful. "And Katie Gardener?" He looked shocked, like someone had switched his black coffee with decaffeinated blueberry tea.

"I was just walking him down here!" She protested. "_He's _the one who's in trouble."

"No, she shoved me!" Travis insisted.

"Well, yeah." Katie sighed, her conscience refusing to let her lie. If there was one thing she wasn't, it was a liar. "But only because he ran into me booking it around the classroom."

Katie's head hung lower, her face almost brushing the hem of her jumper. "It's all his fault."

Travis shook his head. "Uh uh."

"Uh huh."

"Uh uh."

"UH HUH!"

"UH UH!"

"Katie! Travis!" The principal said curtly. Their bickering subsided.

He shook his head sternly. "Follow me please." He looked at Katie. "Both of you."

Travis snorted, walking beside Katie. She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, melodramatically. They walked down the hallway of the office, trailing behind the principal. As they passed by the receptionist booths, Ms. Keene shook her head at the two of them.

"But it wasn't my fault!" Katie wanted to say. "I'm not this girl. I'm good. I get good grades and... I'm nice."

She didn't even notice that she had stopped walking but Mr. Burns had.

"Katie!" He barked. She whimpered, feeling bad for making her situation a thousand times worse.

When they reached the office that belonged to the principal, Katie was shaking in her green plastic sandals, but the intimidating qualities of the room didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. He looked almost comfortable.

Mr. Burns opened the door and motioned for them to enter. Inside, there was a long table with enough chairs for twelve people to sit comfortably, a big mahogany desk and a large fish tank that spanned the length of an entire wall.

"Please sit down." He said, sternly. Katie took a seat at one head of the table with Travis electing to sit at the other end. Mr. Burns' forehead creased in frustration.

"Kids these days." He mumbled, clearing his throat. He opted to just stand so that he could face both of the rule breakers. "Travis. Katie. Why are you both in my office today?" Katie gulped and Travis suppressed a grin.

"Because Mrs. C doesn't like us." Travis stated. Katie's expression grew worried.

"She likes me! It's just Travis she doesn't like because he's a bum." She slapped a hand over her mouth. She had just said a mean word in front of the big, scary principal. He turned.

Upon hearing her comment, Travis folded his arms across his chest. Who was _she _to call _him_ a bum? Strange as it seemed, he kind of liked seeing a girl like Katie ditch the rules. Meanwhile, Mr. Burns' reaction was less than positive. He walked over to where she was seated and bent down beside her chair, staring her in the eyes; one of his favourite scare tactics. Katie shifted her eyes to the left, then the right but each time he followed. She was so busted.

_"Why did I even say that dumb, stupid word? Why? Except it is true. Travis is a bum. Why is he even smiling?"_

"Katie, Travis is not a bum, as you so kindly put it, please apologize." His eyes showed no sign of discomfort but this was the last thing he expected from Katie Gardener. "I'm very disappointed in you, Katie." He stood and walked to the corner of the room by the fish tank, leaning heavily on his dark wooden cane. He turned back to look at them, several possible punishments floating around his mind.

Travis sat in his chair, fiddling with a stray thread on his polo shirt. Truth be told, he felt naked without Connor there. Why, oh why did he dare him to eat that rotten egg the day before. Mean pranks like that always blew up in his face. Connor's pranks never blew up in _his _face. They were always well thought out and devious. When he grew up, Travis longed to be like his brother. Not that he was about to tell anyone that. Especially not Connor.

"As punishment for disrupting your class," Katie was about to interrupt when Mr. Burns added, "-and for being disrespectful to peers you will _both_ have a detention with me during lunch hour every day this week." Katie felt sick. She had never gotten a detention before. And Missy would kill her if she wasn't there to continue their game in which they played twin fairy princesses that fought evil and looked pretty doing it.

"But I wasn't even involved." She started but was cut off by the principal's next comment.

"No buts!" Katie sighed and strangely enough, so did Travis. The only one who wasn't silent was Mr. Burns and he was on a roll. "Your detention will start now, since lunch is in three minutes. I will go and get your lunches. Stay here or your detention will be extended. Please sit with your heads down." With that, he headed for the door.

Katie froze. Left alone with _Travis Stoll? _

They nodded obediently as the door shut behind him. As if on cue, their heads rested softly on the tables surface in unison. Once all was quiet, Travis spoke.

"Katie?"

"What do you want?"

"Your a butt."

"You're a fart." She replied, trying not to giggle. She had an angry facade to keep up here! One that, she might add, was hard to keep up when you were trying to be mad at Travis Stoll.

"Stink bomb."

"Ew! You're a stink bomb!"

"No, you!"

"Uh, uh. You."

And it carried on like this for the entire time the principal was gone.

But she wasn't going to let one joke between the two of them put the constant pranks pulled on her by Travis and his brother behind her. After all, Travis had ruined her opportunity to plant her bean seed and that just wasn't cool.

Still, she couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, this detention wouldn't be so bad.

**A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry for the super long hiatus. I had quite a bit of trouble coming up with this chapter. I wasn't sure when to introduce certain parts. Here it is! ENJOY! Don't forget to press that lovely little review button and tell me what you think. :) Thanks for reading.**

**xoxo Emily  
**


	3. Stupid Heads and Flying Dirt

**Chapter 3: Stupid Heads and Flying Dirt**

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and the end of detention. Katie had been going crazy waiting to be released. The room was eerily silent. After the 'stink bomb' argument, they had both kept to themselves. Travis had somehow gotten a hold of paper and a pencil and was doodling quietly. Every once and a while, a devious smile appeared on his face and Katie looked around to make sure nothing had been messed up. Surprisingly, nothing had been. At least not that she could see. Boys were so stupid.

"Katie? Travis?" Principal Burns knock came as a shock to the both of them and almost simultaneously stopped laughing. By the time Mr. Burns got the door open (which was about two minutes seeing as Travis had locked it from the inside as a prank) the only sound in the tiny enclosed space was gentle breathing and the hum of the air conditioner.

"Hm, it seems as though my door was locked," he eyed Travis who stared up at him wide-eyed and innocent looking. Katie rolled her eyes. Innocent looking? She didn't think so.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Burns but I must have locked it accidentally when I got up to throw out this mean drawing of me Katie made."

Travis hopped out of his chair and ran over to the trash can. He fished a piece of crumpled paper out and flattened it. It was a crude drawing of Travis getting eaten by a tiger. So that was what he had been hiding!

Katie turned bright red. There was no way she had drawn that! Her dad even said she was a wonderful artist!

"Mr. Burns, I didn't draw that!" Katie interjected.

"Now she's just plain fibbing!" Travis shook his head, "Pathetic."

"Wow, Travis!" It was Katie's turn to shake her head. "I didn't know that you knew that big of a word." She got a mischievous glint in her green eyes for the first time that day.

"I _bet_ you can't spell it." A smug smile spread across her face, obviously satisfied with herself. There was no way that Travis could resist a bet, and she knew it.

"Oh, yeah?" Travis roared, stomping over to her. Their faces were just inches apart when he shouted, "I can too!"

"One dollar says you can't!" Katie countered.

"Children," Mr. Burns said in an attempt to stop the vicious bickering between the two five year olds. He brought his fingers to his temples and massaged them. Maybe he was in for an early retirement after all. He would have to talk it over with his wife when he got home. He seemed to get lost in his thoughts but Travis and Katie had no troubles bringing him back to reality.

"P-A-T-H-E-T..." Travis faltered. He thought for a moment, unable to remember if 'e' came next or if it was 'i'.

"TOLD YOU SO!" Katie screamed, but Travis wasn't finished.

"P-A-"

"Uh uh, I don't think so! You can't start AGAIN!"

"Can too!"

"TRAVIS, KATIE!" The principal yelled. They froze, staring up at the huge man with the thinning hairline. Pleased to have finally gotten their attention, he continued. "You will return to class. Now! And there will be no gambling of any kind at this school!"

Katie hung her head, suddenly becoming very interested in her shoes. It was nice the way that the green plastic bands met in the middle of her foot...

"Had enough of me yet, Mr. B?" Travis asked, cockily. Katie just stood still, admiring her feet.

"More than my fair share, Mr. Stoll. Please return to class. If I hear of any misbehaviour in the hallway..." He left the threat open ended and Katie really didn't want to stick around to find out just what happened to kids that 'misbehaved' in the hallway.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Burns," Katie said, her small voice and apologetic tone softening the principal's hard stare.

"I accept your apology. However, I expected more from you."

Katie nodded, her head still down. She could feel the beginnings of a cry in her eyes and grabbed Travis' arm before he had the chance to protest.

"Bye, Mr. Burns," Was all Katie could manage while Travis and his usual confident self said, "See ya soon, Mr. B!"

Katie glared at him and they left the scary office to head back to their classroom.

"E-C. I can spell pathetic. You owe me one dollar. P-A-T-H-E-T-E-C." He finished, smugly looking over at her. She was oblivious. "And that's why I eat puppies."

"Cool," she said, not really listening. A small smirk formed on his face and he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"You wanna go jump off of the school? Or I could just push you off."

"Sure, whatever."

"KATIE!" he hollered, now actually tired of her not paying him any attention. He was Travis Stoll for Pete's sake! He _deserved _to be listened to. She should be glad he was even talking to her!

"Huh?" Katie had been so wrapped up in her own little world where Travis Stoll and his stupid head didn't exist that she didn't hear him.

"Pathetic," he urged, obviously annoyed that she hadn't been listening to him, "P-A-T-H-E-T-E-C."

Katie looked at him. "It's an 'i'," she muttered. "I win and you owe me a dollar."

Travis' face fell. And she meant fell. It was pretty funny, actually. "No it's an e."

"I," she insisted.

"No, I think I know how to spell _pathetic_, Katie."

"You know what's really _pathetic, _Stoll? You."

And with that she walked back into the classroom. He hadn't even noticed where they were. He was too wrapped up in their conversation...er argument.

"Hey!" he called after her.

Back inside the classroom Mrs. C was showing the class the proper way to pot a plant, which left Katie wondering what exactly the class had been doing before lunch. Crayons, paint and washable markers littered the tables and at each spot was a brightly decorated flower pot, the scene unintentionally answering her question.

"Katie, Travis!" Mrs. C ushered them over to the carpet. Travis went one way and Katie veered as far away from the Stolls as possible. She had just spent her entire lunch hour with that stupid head and she didn't want to talk to him ever again.

"So class, as I was saying. You will take a little bit of dirt and fill the bottom of your pot..."

Katie watched the teacher with wide eyes and soaked up every detail. She already knew all of this, of course. She was practically born in a garden. Her dad had taught her how to hold a shovel before she was even out of diapers.

"Then, just pat the dirt on the top, give it a drink of water-" the class giggled at this, "put it in one of the foil trays by the window and you're done!"

An excited murmur fell over the class, most of the girls getting excited about growing their own plant and the boys wondering if they would find a worm in the dirt and if they could get someone to eat it.

Katie just rolled her eyes, something she found herself doing a lot of lately, and went to her seat.

She was kind of sad that she was the only one without a decorated pot, besides Travis but mostly she was just looking forward to planting! Who knew school could be so much fun?

"Katie, does she mean that I have to touch the dirt?" Eleanor asked, eyeing the bag of topsoil nervously. "Because I don't really like dirt-"

"Yes, Eleanor," groaned Macy from across the table. "How do you plan on growing the plant? In your hand?"

Eleanor looked over at Katie innocently. "That's what Katie's doing."

Macy turned to look and her eyes almost bugged out of her head. Katie closed her palm around the seed and turned redder than a tomato.

"How did you do that?" Eleanor asked, completely in awe of her. Katie just set the seed to the side and it stopped growing.

"Uh-" she had to stop and think a moment, "It was like that. Super weird, and grown. Lucky pick?"

"Right," said Macy, shaking her head. "That makes sense."

Eleanor turned back to her plant and dipped her pot into the bag of dirt, smiling. She didn't have to touch the dirt after all and was quite pleased with herself.

Soon, Katie was finished planting her bean and had avoided growing it in her hand, all with very few distractions. And by distractions, she meant without Travis or Connor interrupting.

"I'm going to name mine Rose," Eleanor announced proudly. She gave the pot it was in a little kiss. "Princess Rose."

Macy shook her head, wondering if the girl would ever learn. "You can't name it Rose!" she sighed.

"Why not?"

"Because, we're planting _beans_. Duh!"

"Oh." For a split second, Eleanor was at a loss for words. It was, however, short lived. "I'll name her Princess Beanie!"

"That's better!" Macy smiled, raising a hand to high five her friend. "I'm naming mine Bean Plant Experiment Number One!"

"Maybe they can be sisters..." Eleanor grinned, returning the gesture.

Katie walked over to the window sill in search of the perfect spot. It had to have lots of sunshine but still enough shade so that the plant could sleep. Connor and Travis were seated at the table nearest the window and failed miserable at potting a plant. She almost laughed.

"Do you guys want some help?" she asked, her voice quiet and kind.

"We don't need any help." Travis huffed, glaring at Katie. Connor, however remained silent and looked from the blond in front of him to his brother.

"Travis does!" He piped up.

Travis shot his brother the death glare to end all death glares. "No. I. Don't."

"Mental help," his brother teased.

"Shut up, Connor!" Travis hollered, earning him a warning look from the teacher. He tried to put the seed in the dirt but he kept dropping it, and then he practically buried it beneath a mountain of dirt. Just as he was about to drown it, Katie stepped in.

"Uh, Travis," she said, timidly. "You're going to drown it. Here," She took the tiny watering can from him and poured a perfect amount of water on it.

"Just put a little bit more dirt on it and it'll be super!" She added, setting the watering can back down. Travis stared at him plant. Where there had been nothing but dirt before, there was now a small little green things poking out through the top.

"Whoa! How did you do that? That's aw-" Travis was cut off by a rather sharp jab to his ribcage. From Connor of course. He shot his younger brother a look. Travis was acting very un-Travis like and Connor felt entitled to let him know.

"I mean," Travis looked back at Katie. "That's cool if you like that sort of thing."

"Okay, Travis." Katie rolled her eyes and sat down on the window sill with her plant.

"Dude, you're losing your touch." Connor sighed, flicking a chunk of dirt across the table. Travis groaned.

"Whatever, Connor," he said absently crunching a piece of dirt to smithereens on the table.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" his brother asked him.

Travis raised an eyebrow and eyed the dirt, a brilliantly evil plan forming inside of his head.

"Dirt fight?" Travis suggested but Connor was way ahead of him, already having hit Mrs. C with a bit of brown topsoil. She was turned around and helping a couple of their classmates, Freddie and Samantha pour dirt into their pots. The girl tossed a bit of dirt at Freddie who complained and sat unhappily in his chair.

"So ahead of you, little brother," Connor grinned, picking up some more dirt to throw. Travis snorted as it collided with their teacher and fell to the floor. Soon, there was an all out war on the poor teacher. The best part was that she was oblivious. From her seat on the window sill, Katie saw the whole thing.

"That's not very nice," was all that she said.

"Neither is this," Travis smirked and flicked a small clump of soil at her.

"Stop it," she hissed, balling her hands into fists. Travis was a bit taken aback. He hadn't expected that reaction from her. Then again, detention seemed to have worked wonders on her. Anything was possible.

She looked around at the rest of her class, wondering why no one else was butting in. All of the kids seemed to eye the three of them with odd curiosity. Even Eleanor and Macy.

"What are you going to do about it, Katie?" he asked, feigning interest.

_No, Katie. Don't do anything bad. You'll just go to the principal's office again. _

She took a deep breath and let it out. "Nothing." With that, she turned, about to walk back over to the window sill.

Connor pointed at Katie's turned back and Travis nodded, grabbing a huge chunk of dirt and readying himself.

But just as he was about to throw it, Connor called her name and she whirled around. But it was too late.

In case you're wondering, it hit her smack in the middle of her face which at this time was a deep red. She wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or run or tell the teacher or do all three. What surprised Travis was that she didn't move. She stayed perfectly still, an angry look on her face.

He was going to pay! Travis had just thrown dirt. In. Her. Face. She gave herself a moment to think her plan through. Sure she would end up in trouble again but maybe Travis would finally leave her alone. He bugged her all the time!

Katie balled her hands into fists and picked up Travis' plant. Normally, she would try to hurt the plant. But these were desperate times and desperate times called for desperate measures.

Travis' eyes followed the plant but shut quickly when he saw her about to dump his plant all over his head.

Beside him, Connor was looking rather pleased with himself. He had just seen his brother get owned by a girl. It was a good day. Younger siblings could be so much fun.

"What did you do that for?" He sputtered, dirt falling into his mouth.

"It'll help it grow better!" She yelled, calmly putting the pot back on the table.

At the sound of Katie's voice, the teacher turned around to see a huge mess with Katie, Travis and Connor in the middle of it. Through gritted teeth she said, "Travis and Katie, please go into the hallway. I'll be there in a minute."

Connor just sat in his chair laughing his head off, an act that didn't go unnoticed by the teacher who was losing her patience.

"What is so funny, Connor? Maybe you should go with them." By this she meant, "You're in trouble too." and Connor knew it.

Katie, who stood in the hall between the two boys had her arms crossed over her chest. Her expression was reminiscent of a pointy dagger. Travis and Connor were in the middle of an intense thumb war.

"Relax, Katie," Connor was saying. She glared at Travis.

"What!" He cried, obviously confused. "I didn't say anything!"

"It's your fault that I'm in trouble!" Her voice was an angry whisper.

"_You're_ the one who threw dirt at me!"

"ONLY-" she stopped herself, "Only because you threw it in my face first."

Connor felt like a third wheel and just laughed every once and a while, listening to the two of them fight like crazy.

After what seemed like forever, Mrs. C came to talk to them. Their punishment wasn't so bad. They just had to clean up the classroom and Katie was able to put thoughts of getting kicked out of school forever out of her mind.

_She _was going out of her mind. All because of stupid Travis Stoll and his dumb brother Connor. But mostly because of Travis.

She wasn't aloud to say hate at home but she figured that she could say it in her head. _I hate Travis Stoll. _She felt better already.


	4. The Broom, Crayons and Brotherly Advice

**Chapter Four: The Broom, Crayons and Good Old Brotherly Advice  
**

In the midst of plotting Travis' demise, which, thanks to the recent turn of events was scheduled for next Tuesday, she didn't even notice their teacher slip quietly into the hallway. Her voice shook the tiny kindergarten like a house in the middle of a tornado.

"Katie, could you go down to the Janitor's closet for a broom, please?" Mrs. C's voice was surprisingly even considering what had just happened. The classroom was a mess and both Katie and Travis were filthy. She let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't in trouble. She just had to clean the class, that wasn't so bad. She could even have time to replant her bean crop! Yeah, not such a bad thing. Still, she had better not push her luck.

"Yes, Mrs. C," she smiled hesitantly, wondering how the teacher hadn't blown her top yet. As she passed by Travis, she stuck out her tongue. Travis Stoll is just a big fat stupid head. What was that word her dad used all the time? Oh, right. He was also an idiot.

"Do you want me to send someone with you?" The teacher asked. "I'm sure Travis wouldn't mind."

"NO!" They cried simultaneously. Katie cleared her throat, clearly embarrassed by the outburst.

"I mean, uh, no thank-you, Mrs. C." She offered a small smile but the teacher just shook her head, a small smile on her face.

She left the room and walked to the end of the long hallway to a door marked "Janitor's Closet". The door was slightly open and she slipped inside.

The closet was pretty small and there was only one light. A bare bulb that hung from the ceiling. It was really creepy in there. And cold, too. As she looked for a broom, chills ran down her spine. There was a broom propped up against the wall of the tiny room but it was huge. She didn't know how she was going to get it out of there but she would find a way. She really didn't want to mess up again. Twice was enough for one day.

She kicked open the door with her foot and lugged out the gigantic broom by it's thick wooden handle and dragged it back to the classroom.

"Here, Mrs. C," she panted. The broom was much heavier than it looked.

Their teacher, who had been seated at her desk organizing some papers looked up at the tiny girl in the doorway. A small spilled across her face and she went to pick it up.

"Alright, Katie," Mrs. C said, taking the broom from her, "I need you to wipe off this desk. Travis," he glanced up at the sound of his name, "You will sweep the floor underneath the desk and Connor will put away everything from the tables."

Connor groaned. Mrs. C really didn't like him. He had barely been involved and he was left with the hardest job! He walked over to the closest table and picked up a handful of crayons, grumbling the whole way. He wasn't very mature, for being the oldest and all.

The teacher looked over at the dirt covered table where Travis was sweeping and Katie was dusting dirt on the table into the larger bag of dirt. The two of them were covered in brown. Travis' blond curls were filled and a thin layer covered the better part of his face. Katie's face was covered in dirt and so was most of her shirt. She shook her head.

"Travis, Katie?" Both looked up at their teacher. "Do either of you have a change of clothes?"

Katie shook her head and Travis looked confused like he was used to being covered head to toe in dirt. So much for his white t-shirt.

"Okay, then." Mrs. C clapped her hands together and offered a strained smile. It was one hell of a day and it wasn't over for another hour and a half.

Meanwhile, Katie continued to sweep off the table with her hand, accidentally-on-purpose dropping clumps of dirt onto his head. She couldn't believe it. Travis was so dumb! She couldn't believe that he had thrown dirt right in her face.

_Sure, he looked sorry afterward but he still did it! Who threw dirt in people's faces? Travis, apparently. Ugh, I just hate him._

Feeling particularly rebellious she used the word over and over.

_I hate Travis Stoll! I hate Travis Stoll! I HATE HIM! _

Another voice in her head tried to reason with her,

Come on, Katie it said, You know that you don't mean that. You're just mad.

_Nope, I hate him. Hate, hate, ha-_

"Katie?" Ugh, he was talking.

"What, Travis?" she demanded, "Do you want to throw more dirt in my face?"

He looked sheepish. "Uh, no. I wanted to say..." His voice grew quiet. Too quiet for anyone to hear.

For a second, she thought he was going to apologize.

"You have dirt on your shirt Katie." She looked down at her t-shirt and saw that for once, Travis was right. Not that she was about to tell him that. She'd sooner punch him, and she was by no stretch a violent person. It just wasn't in her nature.

Big brown slashes covered her clothing and she could feel the dirt on her face and in her hair. When she looked up, she was met with a smirking Travis. Katie balled her hands into fists and stomped away to the bean plants at the window. At least _they_ wouldn't make fun of her for having garden soil on her clothes.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room Connor shook his head, still clearly suffering the consequences of meddling. Many of the crayons that he was putting into the boxes were broken but he didn't care. He even broke a few himself for good measure, laughing devilishly as he did so.

"Connor, would you like to buy a new class set of crayons?" Mrs. C inquired, coming up from behind him. Her hand was on her hip and her face showed severe signs of annoyance.

He hung his head and mumbled out a barely audible "no" and continued with his mind-numbingly boring task.

Just as he was clearing the last table, he looked up to see his brother walking over to the window sill that Katie was sitting at, tending to the plants.

He approached his brother with the quiet stealth of a Navy Seal and gave him a good (friendly, of course) shove. "Hey, Travis," he said, mocking Katie's high-pitched register in a way that did not sound at all like the girl herself.

"Shove off, Connor."

Travis' tone held unmistakable regret as he eyed watched the blond at the window sill carefully attach the plants to their Popsicle sticks as to keep them upright.

"I think you're forgetting who's the older one, here, LITTLE brother."

When no witty comeback came flying his way, Connor knew that something was up but Travis just kept staring at Katie like she was the most difficult prank on the planet. The kind that required undiluted and complete concentration. The kind that Connor's extensive ADHD strongly prevented him from plotting.

"She'll calm down. She's just mad at you right now."

"But I didn't even do anything!" Travis was complaining, stomping his foot angrily as if it would some how help his point get across faster and with increased clarity.

"Girls are just weird. They get mad at everything." And with that tidbit of brotherly advice, Connor was gone to leave Travis to sail the uncharted waters of the female brain by himself. Under his breath, he wished him luck knowing that he would need way more than he had.

Bracing himself, he marched up to Katie, prepared to apologize for throwing dirt on her face, killing her plant and knocking her over in his stint as the red baron earlier in the day. He was just going to show her how sorry she was and maybe she would talk to him again. He didn't like this weird Katie that ignored everything. She was boring and plain like the rest of the girls. Katie was usually what his mom would have called a firecracker; you can't look away when it goes off but dangerous.

He was going to do it. He was certain of it. Until she turned around, looked him in the eye and lost his nerve.

"What do you want now, Travis?" Katie asked, her tone sharp and detached. He stuttered on his words, unsure of what he actually wanted to say.

"I uh, just wanted to uh, say, I'msorry." His voice was low and the last two words slurred together. With the apology, though admittedly not the confident, cocky, I know what I'm doing one he had in mind, off his chest he raced as far away from Katie as quickly as possible.

At the sound of Travis' black light up Power Rangers shoes squealing on the industrial tile of the classroom, Connor's head whipped up to see his younger brother high tailing it away from Katie, the expression on her face one of complete confusion.

"What did I tell you, man?" he said, smirking at his own intelligence. "Girls are weird and we shouldn't associate with them until absolutely necessary when we want to like, get married and stuff."

Travis shook his head, ridding himself of all apologetic thoughts. He was Travis Stoll, girls weren't something to be intimidated by. No, they were just annoying babies who couldn't handle a good prank if it hit them in the face. He laughed at what he would later find out was called irony.

No way was he ever getting caught up in the female brain ever again. Well, not until the eighth grade. At least.

* * *

**A/N: Hey,everyone! Just the worst updater on the history of fanfiction here posting...a filler chapter...I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to update. With high school just coming to a close, I've had zero time to myself to think about updating. I was actually trying to write the next chapter of my multi-chap fic for iCarly called **iBlame it on the Alcohol **but I got massive writers block! I'm sorry as well if this chapter sucked, but there's at least one, if not two more chapters of this story to look forward to! I'd love to say expect them soon but I honestly have no idea.**

**As for my other story, Battlefield, I'll be working on that one as well as soon as school lets out (this is the final week; exams are next week, so nervous for them! AH!). Updates ARE COMING! I have, however, decided to scrap Affections. I may continue it in the near future. **

**This chapter is brought to you by me. The most disorganized fanfiction writer on the face of the earth.**

**On another note, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and will take the time to review! The more reviews I get, the more motivation I have to continue. Now, I've never done this before but I want to shout out to everyone who has ever reviewed this story! THANKS SO MUCH!**

**These people ROCK!**

_RebeccaBaxter, _Cap'N Cupcake! (2 reviews, so thank-you so much!), **TheImmortalAngels****, **_PercyJacksonFan101, _AllyPatriciaa, **annnnnnnnnna, **_, _JayJay-Lynn, **Snow Angel5466, **_quaily, _Weieieieieieieieieieieieirdo**, weqrqwerrerkkek, **_Emmy (that's what my sister calls me, LOL!)_ andbut-thatsjustme-dealwithit**! **

You guys are the reason I write! Thanks so much!

EmilyHelene (after the longest author's note ever!)


	5. How To Deal With Pests

Travis Stoll, You Are So Not Funny

a Percy Jackson and the Olympians story

By Emily Helene

* * *

**Chapter Five: How To Deal With Pests**

* * *

_**Travis**_

If he hadn't have been late for class, finding his spot in Ms. Rees' second period geography would have been easier than tricking a handful of first-graders into eating sidewalk chalk. When you're Travis Stoll, any act involving charisma, practical jokes and mind games might as well be automatically listed in his student folder. No, it should have been simple. If he hadn't have been late for class he could have slipped somewhat soundlessly, though he never let an opportunity like a grand entrance run amiss so it wouldn't be all _that _soundless, into his seat at the back of the room. Ms. Rees' class was perfect because with assigned seating he could sit at the back and sketch detailed blueprints of his latest and greatest ideas. All of this would of course go undetected by the fresh-out-of-teacher's-college eco-freak-but-sometimes-cool instructor because the four other desks in front of him would block her view making him virtually untouchable. That, and if he shifted just right, he could throw rolled up balls of notebook paper at precisely the right angle and hit the leg of Katie Gardner's chair. This gave him both something to do and a means of getting her attention, an obvious plus.

Usually, he'd hit her with a crumpled up messages that she'd never respond to but sometimes she would unwrap and smooth them out, smile to herself and shake her head. Those were the best days because her smile always lit up her face and it was sort of cute. But not really. Mostly gross. But maybe just a_ bit_ cute.

Whatever, it was a good seat.

In other words, if he hadn't have been late for class, everything would have fallen into place. But, seeing as Connor saw fit to involve him with his latest prank involving the lunchroom ceiling, macaroni & cheese, super glue and a furious lunch lady, he was forced to enter class five minutes after the bell. Instead, he was sitting at the front of the room which had no view of the window or Katie. It also prevented him from doing anything but the assigned seat work which was honestly, just a pain in the ass. Sitting at the front sucked, to say the least.

He was surrounded by posters about environmental awareness and maps of the United States in bright, classroom-friendly colours as if the colours blue, red and electric purple would make learning about American geography suddenly riveting. The chalk board was bare, save a few chalk markings that had failed to make the cut of the eraser. If they really wanted to be interesting, why not have planned practical jokes and pranks every period? That was way more fun than some lame coloured posters.

He wasn't even all that sure of what had been going on all period. He had no clue what time it was or how much class was left really. He had more important things on his mind like, well, nothing. But he still couldn't be bothered to pay attention. What he did know is that the class was discussing something like naming and locating the 50 states but he couldn't be sure and didn't care enough to actually listen in. Besides, why participate in class when you can stare intently at the chalk markings that went un-erased that, because of your ADHD, do very little to entertain you.

_Maybe I'll count them, _he thought, letting out a sigh of boredom, _1, 2,3…wait, is it counted as one if it touches another line or are they separate? Ugh, forget it. _Even that was too much to think about. All that he wanted to do was go back to his usual spot but clearly, that wasn't an option. Another somewhat deep sigh of boredom escaped his mouth but unfortunately didn't escape the ears of the teacher.

"Travis, are we boring you?" Ms. Rees seemed to materialize before him, eyes somewhat annoyed but mostly errant, as if she had some gruesome fate in mind for the troublemaker. She was a teacher so it probably consisted of making him answer a question which could be absolutely terrifying in its own right. Most of the time Ms. Rees was a decent teacher, so instead of slumping further in his seat like he would have done with his math instructor, he made an attempt to sit up properly. Mind you, it was just an attempt so it was unlikely she would even detect his minute change in posture.

"Do you want me to answer that honestly?" He grinned, pouring on the charm and crossing his fingers inside of his desk. This type of thing didn't usually work on Ms. Rees but hey, today was a new day and you never know what might happen.

She rolled her eyes at her young pupil and for a split second, it seemed like she was going to let him off the hook for talking back to her. Maybe she was finally starting to admire his natural comedic gifts.

"Yeah, nice try, Stoll," She laughed, her light voice amplified as the rest of the class chimed in. "Did you hear the question at least?"

Travis racked his brain as Ms. Rees stood before him, figuratively tapping her foot with apparent impatience.

"Well," Travis said, stretching his legs under the table and clearly getting comfortable, "Whatever it was, it had to do with geography."

This made the class laugh harder and even though he knew he'd be punished for sure, it was just too much fun to pass up. Then he had an idea. Maybe, if he could egg Katie on enough, he could drag her down with him. Then at least, detention wouldn't be too horrible.

"Listening pretty intently, I see" she said. Though her tone was authoritative but there were the beginnings of a smile at the corners of her mouth. Travis had a deep suspicion that maybe Ms. Rees had been one of those badass students in school. For whatever reason, she tolerated his antics and didn't yell at him. Well, not _too_ much anyway. "More specifically, we were talking about the key exports of each state, Travis. What are five of Delaware's significant industrial exports?"

Contrary to popular belief, thinking up snide but not rude responses that garnered both the respect and entertainment of his classmates while not pissing off his teacher in the process was a pretty strenuous task. Comedic didn't just _happen_, really. You had to really work at it. At that point, his cleverness was failing him and he completely froze.

* * *

**_Katie_**

What an idiot. Why couldn't he just sit in class and pay attention like everyone else? Then at least he would know what was going on instead of getting completely blindsided by every question that didn't have to do with the adhesive qualities of peanut butter or the best angle at which to launch a milk-filled water balloon in order to nail your lactose intolerant target. She rolled her eyes at him, sitting there frozen and on the spot.

She had to admit, she kind of felt bad for the guy, even if he was consistently asking for it. Getting put on the spot when you have no idea what to say is never any fun. She even finds herself in similar situations in math class when she spends a few moments too long admiring the growth of the community's Eco Club garden. Maybe that way why she found herself lifting her pencil and neatly printing explosives, textiles, paper, plastics, and chemicals in the upper right hand corner of her notebook page. It wasn't even a hard question and yet she was helping him anyway. Careful to make as little noise as possible, Katie ripped the corner out of the book and folded it neatly in half before balling it up and preparing to throw it at her dumbfounded target in the front row.

If she just threw it now, willy-nilly without any sort of diversion, she would definitely get detention and her father probably wouldn't like that too much. Not that Katie enjoyed sitting in an empty room with Mrs. Vice, the math teacher who smelled like gym socks. In fact, that was one of the primary reasons why Katie avoided getting in trouble. Once you smelled it once, it was with you forever.

Why was she even doing this for Travis? Why was she risking herself? It made absolutely no sense. All that he did was terrorize her since kindergarten. He always knew exactly how to push her buttons and exactly which types of pranks to pull on her. She owed him absolutely nothing. Maybe she just felt bad for how pathetic he was. Or maybe, the notes that he threw to her every day that explained how bored he was or that gave the punchline to his latest and greatest joke were really getting to her. He wasn't that bad, just a bit of a goof. Or a lot of one. She could even admit that the little dorky, half-smile he did when he wasn't entirely sure of what to say during presentations had a sort of endearing quality to it. Not cute, really but kind of. Kind of. Mostly though, it was just because he was pathetic.

She let out a deep breath she didn't realize she had been holding in and made up her mind about what she was going to do. Her pencil case was right there. It would be really easy. Besides, the amount of times that thing had fallen off her desk and broken open strewing school supplies everywhere was almost too numerous to count. She couldn't believe she was doing this but, here went nothing.

Her elbow brushed the corner of the bright green plastic box with just enough force to send it sliding toward the floor where it promptly unlatched and met the ground. The loud and unexpected clatter got the attention of everyone in the class but before they realized it had come from her, she had whipped Travis in the back of the head with the little balled up piece of paper. She hoped he was smart enough to know what to do with it.

Ms. Rees looked up at her, surprised by the noise and Katie's face turned a deep scarlet making her face darker than her hair. "Sorry, Ms. Rees" she mumbled and quickly got down on her hands and knees to clean up her distraction. A few people whose desks her close to hers got down and tried to help her but there wasn't too much to pick up plus she felt bad accepting help when it had been intentional. It just felt wrong.

She cast a sideways glance to the front of the room when she stood up to return to her seat. The tense posture of fear-stricken Travis had vanished and was replaced by the calm, cool and collected demeanor everyone recognized as one of his characteristic quirks.

"Could you repeat the question, please?" Travis asked, running a hand through his mop of brown curls. Even though she couldn't see him, Katie knew his blue eyes were gleaming at the thought of impressing the teacher without putting in any work. She should have stayed in her seat and just watched him crash and burn as always. He wasn't going to care that she'd saved his ass, it would have been better for her if she had just remained quiet. Quiet is good because nothing gets messed up. Quiet is familiar.

Now that the commotion had died down, Ms. Rees reverted her attention to the boy whose angelic front was about as convincing as a crumb-covered four year old insisting that no, they hadn't eaten the cookie. "I asked you to name the five most significant exports of the state of Delaware. Have you had some stroke of genius in the last thirty seconds that has somehow enabled you to answer?" She asked, growing bored with Travis and his deviation from the lesson.

"If you're talking about their massively successful industries in explosives, textiles, paper, plastics, and chemicals, then yes I know what you mean. If not, it's anyone's guess." He sat back in his chair and despite being the one who set that very action into motion, Katie remembered all over again why she disliked him. He was arrogant, smug and all kinds of clever but not in a good way. He only used his talents for 'evil' and it was just dumb. He wasn't even that funny. Not really.

The teacher raised her eyebrows in surprise because truthfully, while she'd anticipated a somewhat sassy remark from Travis, she had never expected that it would be correct. She tried not to let her obvious astonishment show in her tone as she said, "Well then, why were you holding out on us, Travis?"

"It's more exciting to live on the edge," he shrugged but Katie just rolled her eyes.

With that last remark, the bell sounded and Katie tried to push thoughts of Travis Stoll's stupidity out of her mind so she could focus on the task at hand that was the Eco Club meeting. Every Thursday at lunch, a few of the school's more environmentally conscious students discussed ways to make the school more eco-conscious and green minded. Their latest project was a community garden that families could 'adopt' for a week at a time to grow produce and flowers for both the school's snack program and less fortunate members of the community. So far, it was pretty successful but there was the ongoing issue of pests who liked to come in and ruin it on a regular basis.

Just as Travis was about to leave the classroom, she heard Ms. Rees call him back and pull him aside for a few moments to chat. He was probably getting in trouble for being a smart mouth _again. Serves him right, _she thought. After a couple of minutes, Travis headed to the back of the room and took up residence in the desk by the window where he usually sat and pulled out his sandwich. _Maybe he has lunchtime detention, _she thought.

Either way, it didn't concern her. As long as he stayed away from the Eco Club meeting, she didn't care where he was or what he was doing.

"Oh, Katie?" Ms. Rees' voice shook her from her thoughts. She popped her head up as the teacher motioned her over too. "Now, I hope you don't mind but I have to cover Mrs. Waboski's lunch duty for fifteen minutes so that means Travis will be here doing some quizzes that I've assigned for him to do in the back. He shouldn't bother you and I'll be back to talk to him and then have you get me up to speed on the game plan for the club, alright?" She offered Katie a warm smile that was equal parts apologetic and trusting of Katie to make the best of the situation.

"It's fine, Ms. Rees. We'll try not to let him distract us. Unless he starts to throw things."

Ms. Rees laughed but she Katie was dead serious. Last time a teacher had left them alone together, he'd thrown a bean plant at her face and she had reacted in a way that could be described as anything but calm.

"I'm sure you can handle it, I'll be back soon."

Katie took a deep breath and turned towards the middle of the room where she began to move the desks to arrange them into a circle of eight: enough for each member of the group. The sound of metal screeching across linoleum grated on her ear drums but she was growing used to it. She was just adjusting the last desk when the rest of Eco Club spilled in, reusable lunch bags made from recycled materials in hand. She glanced over at Travis whose lunch resided in a clear plastic bag; the type that you got for 5 cents at the grocery store and that took forever to decompose in a landfill site.

Once everyone had sat down, she pulled out her notebook and canteen of hot chicken noodle soup effectively starting the meeting. She did her best not to glance over at Travis again and focused on the meeting.

"So I have a few ideas about how to make the garden even better..."

* * *

**Travis**

Well this was just great. He'd smoothly answered a question thanks to Katie Gardner of all people, left his teacher slack-jawed and _still _managed to somehow get assigned three extra quizzes on exports, imports and population. Great. When was he ever going to use any of this in the real world? No one cared about where you got your bananas from as long as they were in your fruit bowl at home when you wanted one after school.

He had to hand it to Katie, though, her diversion had been top notch, not to mention a complete and utter surprise. She was the last person he'd ever expect to bend the rules and on the off chance that she did, he was the last person he'd ever expect her to bend them for. Travis was no math genius but something wasn't adding up here and it definitely wasn't the population question he was supposed to be working on. He tried not to entertain the idea that she was head over heels in love with him for too long, though it was kind of funny to think about.

Speaking of Gardner, she was still here now working with the Tree Hugger club on the community garden. Even though he wasn't one for gardening, the tomatoes that they grew were the juiciest ones he'd ever seen. They made perfect pranking projectiles because they exploded with just the right pulp to mush ration.

She was talking about squirrels and birds getting into the garden and attacking the plants which definitely sucked but he was far more interested in just watching her. She still wore her hair in a long blond braid that reached half of the way down her back and her bright green eyes flashed from person to person as she hungrily took in their ideas and wrote them in rapid-fire cursive on her notebook. She was always writing in that thing. Not that he really noticed what she did all the time because it wasn't like he watched her all the time or anything - that would be weird - he just sometimes liked to look at her and when he did she had the notebook.

She had grown up a lot since kindergarten too. She didn't cry about stupid little things like bean-plants any more but she was still as comfortable being a leader as ever. In a lot of ways, he envied how easy she made it look. She had the attention of every member of the group without really trying. For crying out loud, she had _his _attention and he could barely hear what they were talking about. She had always been kind of pretty but now she was kind of _really _pretty, though he'd never tell anyone he thought that. A lot of boys probably thought it.

One thing that hadn't changed was her reaction to his pranks. He could still nail her every time with bugs in her lunch pail or a sly remark about her face and get a witty and clever remark. She always fought back and never reacted like the other girls when he pulled one over on him. She called him out on his stupidity and then out-smarted him on the spot. He had to admit, it was kind of unnerving and scary but it was kind of cool too. It made her different which he liked.

Not that he'd ever tell her that himself. What would he do, just go up to her and say, "I like how you give me a hard time when I tease you. Also, I think you're cute. Wanna date?" While it didn't always seem like it, Travis _had _in fact progressed mentally beyond five years old. You just didn't say those things. Instead he decided to try what he did best: screwing with her.

She was up and out of her seat now, standing at the chalk board with a piece of white chalk poised in her delicate hand. She quickly wrote pest prevention ideas and put it in a bubble to make a thought web. "So who has an idea of how to get rid of these pests?"

One of the younger girls in the group raised her hand shyly.

"Yeah, Tracie?"

"Maybe we could leave a snack for them in the garden so they eat that instead of the plants?"

"What does everyone think?" Katie asked, eyeing the group with piqued curiosity. Everyone, except for the spaced-out boy sitting beside Tracie eating pudding, was nodding their heads in agreement as Katie drew a line branching off the central hub and scrawled in the suggestion.

"Won't work," Travis said, his voice loud and clear over the occasional squeak of chalk on the black board. It wasn't a very lively club, now was it?

Katie looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. "Stick to your geography, Stoll. No one asked you."

"Yes you did, actually," he smirked, standing up from his seat, abandoning his hopeless geography assignments. "You asked what everyone thought and I told you that it wouldn't work. The animals in question aren't going to care if you put a different snack for them; they'll eat whatever they feel like eating."

Just by looking at her, Travis knew that she knew that he was right. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction though.

"Well then, Einstein what would you recommend?" she challenged, looking him straight in the eyes. Travis got the sort of nauseous but sort of happy feeling that looking at girls often described as butterflies when she stared him down like that. That and fear.

He thought for a second, trying to come up with an idea that would actually impress her. He tried to think about the existing garden and any flaws in the planning. If he could remember correctly, the garden was shaped like a giant rectangular sandbox and rested right at ground level where it was easy for them to get in. Coming up with no ideas, he decided to picture it like a prank. If he were a garden, how would he prevent pesky little creatures from eating him? Then, he had it.

"Raise it."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, raise the garden," Travis said. "It's flat along the ground, right?"

Katie nodded.

"So surround it with like wood or something and that should keep all of the whatsitcalleds from crawling in and eating everything."

Katie stood there for a moment, mulling over his idea. It had made perfect sense in his head and still seemed to make sense when he said it aloud which didn't always happen. He stood there, waiting and hoping that she wasn't going to rip him a new one simply for opening his mouth. Like he'd said before: she was scary.

"Not all of the animals are on the ground, idiot," she rolled her eyes but her curiosity had been piqued for sure. "That might be decent for squirrels and rabbits and stuff but what about the birds?" It was another challenge; she was testing him to see if he actually knew what he was talking about.

"Oh, right." That took him by surprise. What was with everything taking him by surprise today? Did he get absolutely _no _time to plan before an answer was expected. Luckily it didn't take him too long to come up with another idea. He was on a roll today.

"Aren't birds like afraid of a lot of things? Loud noises, shiny objects?"

"Are you seriously suggesting that we get a blinged out scarecrow that makes some sort of annoying noise?" She didn't look impressed. It wasn't what he had been thinking _exactly _but it was even better than what he was thinking.

"Yeah, that'd be awesome! And it could like have a whipped cream launcher to shoot at the birds when they get too close and it could like yell at them and stuff and it would be like a full-tilt security system..." he would have gone on forever but one look at her face said that he had taken things too far again. "What?" he demanded, "That's a really sick idea, it'd just be really hard to do."

"Something like that would probably do our garden some good though, don't you think?" asked Ms. Rees. Neither Katie nor Travis had noticed her come in, they had been too absorbed in their own conversation to really notice any changes in their surroundings. Katie blinked and whirled around to meet the teacher.

"Uh what do you mean, _something like that_?" she asked, unsure of why the seemingly practical Ms. Rees would agree to a whipped cream launching, alarm blaring device.

Ms. Ress looked over at Travis, studying him inquisitively. "It's not a bad idea to have a scarecrow with a shiny baubles on it. We could do a used item drive asking for things like old CDs, metal soda can tabs, old jewelry...that sort of thing. It could be a group project and I think it would be the perfect way for you to get focused, Travis. And Katie, I know how you always like a challenge. I'm putting you both in charge of re-doing the garden to make it pest-free!"

The wheels began turning in his head, "You mean I can do this instead of the extra hour of geography work?"

"Not if this will keep you focused and more prepared for all of your classes," she said.

"Alright, high five!" Travis reached his hand in the air, a big smile appearing upon his face. No more geography, no problem!

She eyed him cautiously, "I will however, reassign it if Katie and I don't feel that you're contributing enough to the group and to the garden remodel."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, Travis is on the job."

"...which is exactly what I'm worried about," grumbled Katie. If he messed this up and turned it into some world-class prank with Connor, he was in for something else entirely. The Eco Club was her domain and if she could keep Travis Stoll in line, she was convinced that there would be nothing she couldn't handle.

"Awesome," Ms. Rees smiled at the unlikely pair. "You two can figure out a time that you can get together to do the majority of the planning and let me know. Keep me up to date on your progress, alright?"

"Yeah, definitely," Katie smiled. _She must be coming around_, thought Travis. She turned to him, holding his blue eyes with her striking green ones. "Partners?"

He reached out his hand for her to shake, "Partners."


End file.
